Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

Originally Posted by rawraw

The secretary at my work is actually allergic to most scents (including deodorants, shampoos, etc) and can get hospitalized if its bad enough. She can smell a perfume or cologne a mile away. Luckily I'm not often in the office, but when I am I have to be very mindful. How would you guys try to avoid getting cologne on your clothes? Currently it seems the cologne gets mostly on my undershirt and not my dress shirt. Was wondering if anyone had any other tricks

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

Originally Posted by Kybid

I knew a girl that claimed that she was deathly allergic to all scents including shampoos, soaps etc. So many people would walk on eggshells for her. I asked her if she wore a gas mask to the store or something because that seemed like an extremely dangerous place for her...she said no. She was in my church and she asked the religious leader to ask people to not wear fragrances of any kind or she could be hospitalized. He complied and thus everyone in church was banned from all fragrances. I didn't believe her but I still tried to help out. So, one day I was in the store and she was in the personal hygiene section looking for non scented everything. I asked her if it bothered her to be in that section because of all of the fragrances wafting in the air. She said no and that she just tries to by unscented stuff. Later, I hadn't seen her in church for a while so I banked that she wouldn't be there and so I wore a spritz of frag and went to church. She was there so I half heartedly tried to keep my distance. I also secretly hoped she would come up to me to see if anything happened. She actually saw me, came over and gave me a hug. I then just observed and absolutely nothing happened. From that moment on I would wear frags any time I went to church or knew that she would be around and nothing ever even came close to happening. So, I guess I'm kind o a jerk because I didn't believe her and decided to test my theory, but she just loved getting attention and saying that she was severely allergic to fragrances was her way of getting constant attention.

I personally have never met anyone that has had a severe reaction from fragrances. I have a coworker where it is just he and I in our office and he is allergic to about 98% of all allergens. I wear fragrances every day and he has never had a reaction. I think that a lot of people that claim to have severe allergies to fragrances either are hypochondriacs, have been told they are allergic to them and thus never tested to see if they really were, really want attention, or are just uneducated. I have worn fragrances since I was 15. I even taught school for 10 years wearing fragrances every day and never did any of my students have a reaction, and still to this day I have never met anyone that has had a severe allergic reaction to frags. I've never even seen anyone have even a slight allergic reaction to frags. Oh, I mean smelling them, not touching the actual juice, that's another story, I have seen reactions to that, still not severe though.

I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, I'm just saying that I have never seen it in my 20 years of wearing frags in all walks of life...and if you think about it, those people that claim they have severe allergic reactions to fragrances should be wearing a gas mask at all times because it is impossible to distance yourself from all fragrances, you could never leave your house and you could never interact with anyone because they might, after all, have washed their hands with some soap that contained some sort of fragrance.

Exactly, its all bullshit. If she is that deathly allergic she should walk around in a bubble. If she was allergic then she would be dead by now. Just tell her that you arent wearing anything and she will be fine.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

Originally Posted by heperd

Exactly, its all bullshit. If she is that deathly allergic she should walk around in a bubble. If she was allergic then she would be dead by now. Just tell her that you arent wearing anything and she will be fine.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

If she really is allergic, as she claims, then she can't go on public transport, can't go to the mall, movies, shopping, anywhere.....because there will be people wearing fragrances.
IMO it is bullshit. She doesn't like fragrances and therefore doesn't want anyone else to wear them.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

Originally Posted by barclaydetolly

But again, if it was me, I just would avoid cologne on the few days I will be near her. No big deal for me.

This.

Regardless of whether she's telling the truth or bs'ing, I wouldn't wear fragrance around her. Just don't want to deal with the drama. At best, she dislikes fragrances and would cause a fuss if she smelt it. At worst, she'd end up being hospitalized. Either way, it's reason enough for me to just not wear fragrances around her.

Honestly, when I first saw the thread title, I thought it was something worse. Like a burglar stole the OP's entire fragrance collection or a fire destroyed it. Thank god it's not that bad.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

Originally Posted by John E Buoy

If she really is allergic, as she claims, then she can't go on public transport, can't go to the mall, movies, shopping, anywhere.....because there will be people wearing fragrances.
IMO it is bullshit. She doesn't like fragrances and therefore doesn't want anyone else to wear them.

If it were real, she would be the Bubble Girl. Seriously.

This! As long as your not being obnoxious and putting 10 sprays, I don't see the problem with two sprays to the wrists. Fragrance is found everywhere. We just like to choose our own.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

I ramble:

A few years ago I was exposed to strong levels of cigarette smoke for several hours. Starting the next day, I had cold symptoms so bad that I was out of work for several days - and I pretty much never take off work for a cold; the only infection that's ever knocked me down to a similar degree turned out to be pneumonia.

For several months afterward, I had serious problems tolerating almost any breathing irritant - exhaust fumes, smoke of all types, paint fumes, cleaners, and, yes, perfume. These irritants didn't cause me to go into anaphylactic shock, no. They weren't a threat to my survival, but even a moderate exposure would give me a miserable headache and very painful sinuses for hours afterward, bad enough to make it very difficult to do anything.

With some care, I was able to reduce exposure from "moderate" to "minimal". I avoided the headaches. I wasn't miserable all the time. If I had had a coworker who insisted on his right to wear perfume at work, in my vicnity, so that I was miserable all the time, I would have been very seriously annoyed.

I got over it. I can wear perfume now. Yay! But I never, ever wear it on a day when I expect to visit, or be in a meeting with, a specific allergic coworker.

Work is work; it's not a place where we're entitled to express ourselves without limit. If someone is so scent-sensitive that they can't handle an occasional unexpected scented visitor to the office without risking death, then their employement opportunities might be limited as a result. But in my view, it's not the least bit unreasonable to insist that their coworkers refrain from spraying on perfume before they leave for work, or even that they avoid wearing clothing that hasn't been washed since it was in contact with perfume. That may be what it takes to reduce exposure to the point that their coworker can, well, _work_.

I'm not aiming this at the original poster - it sounded to me like he was trying to be as helpful as he could, short of giving up perfume in his private life.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

Originally Posted by ChickenFreak

I ramble:

A few years ago I was exposed to strong levels of cigarette smoke for several hours. Starting the next day, I had cold symptoms so bad that I was out of work for several days - and I pretty much never take off work for a cold; the only infection that's ever knocked me down to a similar degree turned out to be pneumonia.

For several months afterward, I had serious problems tolerating almost any breathing irritant - exhaust fumes, smoke of all types, paint fumes, cleaners, and, yes, perfume. These irritants didn't cause me to go into anaphylactic shock, no. They weren't a threat to my survival, but even a moderate exposure would give me a miserable headache and very painful sinuses for hours afterward, bad enough to make it very difficult to do anything.

With some care, I was able to reduce exposure from "moderate" to "minimal". I avoided the headaches. I wasn't miserable all the time. If I had had a coworker who insisted on his right to wear perfume at work, in my vicnity, so that I was miserable all the time, I would have been very seriously annoyed.

I got over it. I can wear perfume now. Yay! But I never, ever wear it on a day when I expect to visit, or be in a meeting with, a specific allergic coworker.

Work is work; it's not a place where we're entitled to express ourselves without limit. If someone is so scent-sensitive that they can't handle an occasional unexpected scented visitor to the office without risking death, then their employement opportunities might be limited as a result. But in my view, it's not the least bit unreasonable to insist that their coworkers refrain from spraying on perfume before they leave for work, or even that they avoid wearing clothing that hasn't been washed since it was in contact with perfume. That may be what it takes to reduce exposure to the point that their coworker can, well, _work_.

I'm not aiming this at the original poster - it sounded to me like he was trying to be as helpful as he could, short of giving up perfume in his private life.

All of this.

I frankly find it pretty disturbing that people are assuming that the secretary is lying (she may be, she may not be. She may not be allergic to MOST perfumes/colognes but one or two could in fact hospitalize her and she may not know which specific ones that is. Or she may truly be very allergic to all of them. But really, who are we to assume that she's lying?)

I also can't believe several people have suggested firing her. I really, truly hope that was a joke, because there are so many problems with that idea I don't know where to begin.

I have a particular coworker who wears gobs of some sort of fragrance. She works in a closed room in close proximity to a coworker who is sensitive to her particular sort of fragrance (I don't know what it is.) She claims to have "toned it down" and she STILL has a 5-foot "stink radius". I'm sensitive to certain fragrances and it happens to be one that sets me off, too. She's been asked several times not to wear so much perfume and she gets quite belligerent about it. Apparently she's even been taken to HR over the issue on at least one occasion. It's really, incredibly rude. (I should add that this closed room she works in is a climate-controlled "clean room" (not sterile) type environment. Any scent that gets in there will be trapped and amplified throughout the day. Not a whole lot of ventilation in there.)

And ChickenFreak (love that name by the way...I used to have pet chickens and they are SOO CUTE!!!!!) I have the same issue with cigarette smoke. I actually had to leave my mother's house earlier than I would have liked last time I visited because I had such awful post-nasal drip that I was about to vomit. Not to mention my nose and throat were getting more raw by the minute. Not. Fun.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

To those who think it's all BS, it's not. I suffered from MCS for years and it's fucking painful. Was it a threat to my survival? Not directly. It sure as hell caused a lot of problems in every area of my life though. This coming from someone who loves perfume.

I was a fool and suffered through it and kept wearing perfume. Some days were worse than others. Some days I could enjoy it. There was always at least some pain accompanying any pleasure, though. But please, please, stop thinking it's fake or made up. In many cases it may be someone being sensational and a hypochondriac, but in other cases it's real.

I could, for instance detect the presence of certain chemicals at an extremely small threshold. A tiny dab of something on a piece of paper, 30 feet away and in a different room, I could smell clearly. I had people test me to prove myself. Without fail I could tell when the scent was actually exposed, or when they were lying and said it was. Certain air fresheners became sickeningly overpowering. It was grueling.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

Originally Posted by galain

Spend some time and money in the essential oil/aromatherapy world. You may not have as much luck constructing a layered frag to compete with the commercials, but essential oils can be exquisite, they do have therapeutic effects and I have never seen anyone with an allergic reaction to any of them except chamomile (which is damn expensive anyway).

It's a different experience. I worked as a naturopath for more than 10 years before I moved to Europe, and aromatherapy was part of my studies. I love my frags, but the oils are well worth looking into.

Most of the recognised allergens are chemicals found in Essential Oils. Limonene found in many oils (including orange, Lemon, Lavender etc.), Linalol found in Lavender, Clary Sage, Bergamot. And many many more.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

The headline of this post sucked us in. I love how the pharmacy employees, the toxicologist, and the healthcare workers on basenotes are all generally apathetic to said secretary's claim, but that there are still a few BNers out there willing to indulge her. I would just go light on the pump, do the skin scent where it takes a hug to appreciate your fine fragrance taste on those days, and not worry too much. If she has an allergy she will have pills and/or an epi pen depending on the severity. A Benadryl works great for sudden allergies, if not seasonal.
There are inhalers for respiratory issues as well.
I work in a pharmacy in a hospital btw.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

Hey guys!

Thanks for some of great advice, I'll be putting that to use.

I didn't realize this thread would get so intense lol. No, this lady is very sweet. I tell her she wouldn't survive as a cave man. I've never asked specifically what things she has been hospitalized from (she is also very allergic to types of foods). But to give you some example of her sensitivity, she sits removed from the rest of the office in her own room. If someone got cologne on their clothes over the weekend, she can still smell it across a 3,000 sqft office area and gives here extreme irritation (headache, etc). So smells may not be among the things that she has been hospitalized from, but she is extremely sensitive.

As I noted, I'm rarely in the office. I was more looking for tips on how to apply cologne so it doesn't get on my clothes. I'd hate to wear a shirt, forgetting I hadn't dry cleaned it, and cause her problems. She really doesn't do it for attention or in a way anyone when working in the office thinks twice about trying to accommodate her. I'm just trying to minimize the chance of exposing her to chemicals!

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

So as not to come off as completely insensitive, here is a post in response to a question on webmd. The OP uses steroid inhaler, epi pen, and respirator in public. Maybe your coworker could look into allergy shots.Http://forum.webmd.com/3/allergies-e
7 months agoAqua14
*responded:You may want to talk to your allergist about beginning allergy shots (assuming your asthma is allergic, since you take antihistamines). I, too, used to normally react to perfumes and strong fragrances (not as badly as you do, though), but since I've been on allergy shots for 5-plus years I can now even comfortably wear some perfumes. It's really amazing to me the difference that allergy shots have made for me.

Here's what I understand as to how this works. By markedly reducing allergic sensitivity, your respiratory system isn't constantly inflamed by reacting to allergens, which makes you more sensitive to irritants like dust, smoke, perfumes. Thus, once allergy shots take effect, fragrances that used to irritate your respiratory system are no longer as irritating and your lungs can now "ignore" the fragrances.

Another potential solution which I have not tried but is worth discussing with your allergist is Xolair. Some on the board have had good success with that.

Hopefully Sonya and some others who suffer greatly from this will also offer other suggestions to you.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

How does she get through life? Trips to the grocery, errands elsewhere? This woman seems most unfortunate. And then, how are the other employees supposed to accommodate her allergies/sensitivities to shampoo of all things?

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

Originally Posted by Nosebud

Can somebody really get hospitalized by being near somebody that is wearing fragrance? I've known people to get migraines if they are sensitive, but not anaphylactic shock! So I will assume it is okay to wear as long as she is not rubbing her body on you.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

Originally Posted by SculptureOfSoul

To those who think it's all BS, it's not. I suffered from MCS for years and it's fucking painful. Was it a threat to my survival? Not directly. It sure as hell caused a lot of problems in every area of my life though. This coming from someone who loves perfume.

I was a fool and suffered through it and kept wearing perfume. Some days were worse than others. Some days I could enjoy it. There was always at least some pain accompanying any pleasure, though. But please, please, stop thinking it's fake or made up. In many cases it may be someone being sensational and a hypochondriac, but in other cases it's real.

I could, for instance detect the presence of certain chemicals at an extremely small threshold. A tiny dab of something on a piece of paper, 30 feet away and in a different room, I could smell clearly. I had people test me to prove myself. Without fail I could tell when the scent was actually exposed, or when they were lying and said it was. Certain air fresheners became sickeningly overpowering. It was grueling.

I can tell immediately when someone walks in the room wearing Lady Stetson. And I'm not nearly as sensitive as you are.

Originally Posted by Nosebud

The headline of this post sucked us in. I love how the pharmacy employees, the toxicologist, and the healthcare workers on basenotes are all generally apathetic to said secretary's claim, but that there are still a few BNers out there willing to indulge her. I would just go light on the pump, do the skin scent where it takes a hug to appreciate your fine fragrance taste on those days, and not worry too much. If she has an allergy she will have pills and/or an epi pen depending on the severity. A Benadryl works great for sudden allergies, if not seasonal.
There are inhalers for respiratory issues as well.
I work in a pharmacy in a hospital btw.

Those of us willing to "indulge her" are those of us who actually HAVE sensitivities.

Re: Basenoter Worst Nightmare

Originally Posted by David Ruskin

Most of the recognised allergens are chemicals found in Essential Oils. Limonene found in many oils (including orange, Lemon, Lavender etc.), Linalol found in Lavender, Clary Sage, Bergamot. And many many more.

But I thought those were contact allergies, rather than allergies triggered by breathing the scent? Am I wrong? Edited to add: I'm asking seriously, not debating. I'd very much like to know if natural perfumes _tend_ to be less allergenic to non-wearers who breathe them.